Too Many Spirits
by StarrFyre
Summary: An old Charmed fic I started a while back. The sisters have to deal with a surplus of sudden ghosts. Where are they coming from and why are they so interested in the Charmed Ones? Rated K 'cause it could get scary! ;-
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is a "Charmed" fic I started sometime last year, or the year before. Not sure if it's any good. If I get reviews, I may go ahead and finish it. Let me know if y'all like it! It's been so long since I wrote it, that I'm not even sure when it takes place…

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from "Charmed", sadly.

Too Many Spirits

Chapter 1

Piper leaned against the bathroom door frame with a faint smile on her lips as she studied Paige's reflection in the mirror across from her, which, if you ignored distance, made it seem as though the sisters stood next to each other. Hidden from the mirror by the current redhead's back, Wyatt was held tightly in his mother's hands as he played with a few strands of her hair. Meanwhile, his bright blue eyes - the same shade as his father's - studied his mother beneath long, golden eyelashes.

"So what's this guy's name again? Dick?" The question was asked just a tad bit scathingly.

"No, it's Vick, like I've told you three times now." Paige secured the clip in her hair, just over her left ear, conveniently forgetting the bright yellow flower belonged to Phoebe. "And must you ask it that way? Or look at me like that while you're holding Wyatt? It's like you're saying, 'Oh, Paige, there you go being irresponsible again.'"

"Hey, don't blame me just because the last two dates you went on happened to concur with _family emergencies_. All I'm doing is staying here at home, taking care of my son, cooking, cleaning, and killing the occasional demon that wants to kill all Halliwells. Nothing too major. Certainly nothing for you to cancel a date over." Piper gave her youngest sister the familiar bright 100-watt smile Paige had come to both love and hate.

"Very funny. But I do notice that those emergencies don't really occur too often lately when you have a mommy meeting. Or when Phoebe has a deadline. Only when I have dates." She turned to face the brunette, one hand reaching out to brush a finger lightly down her nephew's cheek. "And you know that I do drop everything and orb home when you need me. So that's not really fair. Is it really too much to ask for me to have one nice, normal night? Maybe once a week?"

"Ha. Now that you've said that, whatever happens tonight is totally your fault. You realize that, right?" The sisters shared a look, followed by a smile at one another. "But anyway, what does this guy do?"

"He's a real estate agent." She paused, anticipating Piper's snort of derisment even as it came. "Which isn't glamorous-"

"Isn't glamorous? Please. Even I would call that boring."

Paige continued as if Piper hadn't even spoken, "- I know, but it's normal. Nice. He has a steady income, he's cute, he likes me, and he asked me out for tonight." She gave a half shrug, turning back to the mirror to apply a shiny pink lip gloss in a light coat over her darker pink lipstick. "None of which I find anything wrong with." The doorbell rang, signifying the end of the conversation and she slipped the lip gloss into her tiny purse for the evening, and then turned back to her family. She leaned over and gave Wyatt and Piper both a kiss on the cheek. "Don't wait up!" Moving past them the redhead made her way towards the stairs.

Piper smiled again and shook her head, then looked at Wyatt. "Five bucks says she'll be home by midnight." Her son only smiled and babbled something unintelligible. His mother's smile became a grin and she headed towards the stairs herself as she heard Paige leave, to start on the dinner for the two of them-and Phoebe, when she got home.

***

Ice in glasses clinked, knives scraped along plates, and laughter was heard throughout the bar. Yes, a bar. Paige sat nursing a bottle of sparkling water, while watching her date across the room talking to a college friend he'd just happened to run into. _Definitely not what I was expecting when he said 'nice, semi-fancy dinner_'. Glancing around the room again, she felt a little pool of disgust in her stomach as she noticed a few bikers at a pool table studying her with leering smiles. "Okay, that's it. I don't care what Piper says. I gotta get out of here."

Scooping up the light beaded jacket she'd pulled on for the evening, she shot another glance towards her date, and then shook her head. _Probably won't even notice I'm gone_. At least she didn't need to shell out money for a cab. Orbing home couldn't possibly be considered personal gain, since it was strictly using her Whitelighter side, right? She still sometimes had questions about that.

Deciding it was safer to use the restroom for orbing rather than risk exposure outside, the redhead held tightly to the purse that matched her jacket, and headed for a door that had a neon-lit shaped silhouette of a woman over top of it. Pausing at the door to glance up at the sign, she snorted quietly. "Classy." A roll of her eyes was given, followed by her stepping through the door and inside. A quick glance was cast around, showing her she was alone, and she readied herself for orbing, when a sound caught her ears.

Someone was definitely crying. Paige debated with herself for a moment, but knew she couldn't just walk away. It simply wasn't in her nature. She moved towards the stall where the crying seemed to come from, and called out quietly. "Hello?" A slight nudge to the door proved it was unlocked, and she pushed it open slowly. "Are you….okay…?" Her question trailed off as she was faced with an empty stall. The crying ceased for a moment, as she studied the dubiously white porcelain in confusion.

"Must be hearing things…" Letting go of the door, she again started to ready herself to orb away, when she heard the sounds again. Spinning around, she this time managed to see the source. Standing only a few feet from her was a Hispanic woman, dressed in a short, black leather skirt, a bright red camisole, and killer black thigh-high boots. "Whoa, okay. Weird echoes in here, huh? Are you alright?" The half-whitelighter, half-witch stepped forward and reached out a hand to lightly touch the woman's shoulder, only to have her hand pass right through her. The image wavered, then disappeared.

"Great, another spirit. Just to top off my evening, right?"

***

Phoebe sighed out of satisfaction, hit CTRL and the 'S' key on her keyboard, then leaned back in her desk chair with a smile. Her column for next week was finally finished. All she needed to do now was send it to the editing department and she'd be all set. Sitting up again, she opened up a new email, typed out a brief note, added the attachment, and sent the column. Still smiling, she shut the computer down and shook her head. "Thank the gods for whoever created the computer." She slipped the backup disc into her back pocket, then scooped up the thigh-length bright red jacket she'd bought just that morning. She loved having a job-because it meant she could buy fun, new things just like the jacket.

As she stepped out of her office and into the main newsroom, the sheer silence struck her like a hammer. Usually, there were a lot of people still there, even at nine o'clock at night. "No way Elise would have sent them all home." Although she half didn't believe herself-after all, after last week's mini-fight with her editor, Elise could very well have neglected to tell Phoebe about a holiday, or something like that.

The brunette shook her head, then followed up the gesture by absently running a hand through her just-past shoulder length strands. She was secretly glad she had decided to grow her hair back out-the short look had made her appear too much like a pixie that was a good friend of Paige's.

As she headed towards the exit, she stopped as she heard a strange sound. Was someone crying? Turning, she scanned the empty newsroom again, then headed towards what seemed to be the source. Lightly pushing open her Editor-In-Chief's door, she peeked around the corner. "Elise? Is everything alright?" Her question was only meant with an empty room, however, though the sound was still heard. "This is starting to get just a little freaky…" Stepping further into the office, she paused as something moved. The 'something' then became someone as it moved again, revealing a young woman with dark curly hair, slanted eyes, and dark features. Definitely Hispanic. "Hey…are you okay?" The woman turned towards Phoebe, tears rolling down her cheeks. She shook her head, then abruptly disappeared, with the sound fading with her.

The middle Halliwell sister paused for a moment, glancing around to see if she would come back. When she didn't she pulled out her cell phone and again started to make her way out of the newsroom. "Piper? It's Phoebe. We've got a ghost problem…"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I only got one review, but I also got a separate request for the next chapter, so...here ya go! I don't have any more of the story written, so y'all really have to tell me if you want more!

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from "Charmed", sadly.

Chapter 2

"Ghosts. You didn't see any young Chinese ones, did you?" Piper set the baby monitor down on the coffee table along with a tray of tea for the three sisters, complete with their Grams' china tea set, the elder sister's favorite. Picking up one of the cups for herself, she settled back on the couch next to Paige and looked over to Phoebe.

"No…no Chinese ghosts. Just a Hispanic woman. Dressed extremely…how do I put this nicely?" Phoebe paused as she picked up her own cup and sipped some of her sister's homemade tea.

"Like a tramp." Paige shrugged as the other two looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Hey, I've been called it, so I recognize the look now. But yeah, that was all I saw." Snagging the final cup for herself, she pretended to sip, but didn't really. She just didn't have the heart to tell Piper she hated tea.

"Okay….a Hispanic . . . tramp. Who obviously needs or wants our help, since she showed herself to the two of you, but didn't try and kill either of you. I guess the new protection spell we performed on the Manor last week kept her out of here." Which was good because she didn't really want anything otherworldly near Wyatt right now - especially since Leo wasn't around so much.

"Right, otherwise she might have come and haunted you a little, too. I didn't recognize her, did you?" Phoebe looked over at Paige curiously while snagging one of the cookies her older sister had so thoughtfully included on the tray-her favorite, chocolate chip.

"Nope. But that doesn't mean we haven't seen her. Maybe she has some connection to our Charmed-ness."

Piper's eyebrow arched a second time. "Charmed-ness? You can't think of a better word than that?"

"Not at this time of night, no. But you know what I mean. We should check the Book."

Phoebe gave a small shrug, and looked at Piper, "Semantics aside, she does have a point. This could be more than a haunting, and be a magical problem. We could be seeing her since we _are_ the Charmed ones. There might be something in the Book. Probably not about her specifically, but about this situation in general."

"Then up to the attic we go." The sisters all set their tea down and stood, with Piper snagging the baby monitor and hooking it to the waste-line of her jeans.

Up in the attic, they gathered around the Book of Shadows, with Paige taking point since she'd gone through it most recently. "Okay. I know there's some entries in here on spirits and ghosts, but…" She paused, then grinned at her sisters and spoke a little louder. "I have no idea what I'm looking for." The pages of the open book began to ruffle as though a wind were blowing through the room, then turned, until it landed on a brightly decorated page written in a feminine hand.

Piper grinned up at the ceiling. "Thanks, Grams!" Her gaze then shifted to the page, which the other two were already leaning over. "Okay. It says here a lot that…we already knew. Ghosts usually stick around because they have some kind of unfinished business, yadda yadda yadda."

Phoebe shot her a swift glare, then leaned in a little more. "Right, but it also says that they don't have to stay in one place. Which we also knew already, from our past experiences. Maybe she was killed and needs us to find the murderer."

Piper shook her head. "Or wants us to kill someone for her."

The redhead in the group tilted her head as she thought back on her experience. "I really didn't get that vibe. I know she's not human and didn't make the Whitelighter side of me tingle, but I think she needs help with something." Her dark gaze returned to the book. "Part of this entry does say that sometimes spirits hang around when they want someone to find their bodies. Put them to proper rest and all. Maybe that could be it?"

"It's a pretty good idea. One we haven't come across before, but it could be the right one. Great work, Paige."

"Thanks, Piper, but I don't need to be patted on the head anymore. We worked all that stuff out, remember?"

"I know…sorry. I think it's more from hanging around Wyatt and making sure he doesn't do anything like conjuring a dragon again." As if on cue, a soft baby's cry began to be heard coming from her hip. "Speaking of…why don't you two see if we can do some sort of locater spell to find her body." The last few words were called out as she was already moving through the door and heading for the stairs.

Phoebe shook her head, watching her sister go, then looked at Paige. "Can we scry without something belonging to the person? Does it even work if they're dead?"

She was already shaking her head. "No, not usually. Maybe we can find out more about her first, instead of using a spell. We both know what she looks like, and you can draw pretty well. How about we turn a sketch into Darryl, see what he can come up with?"

"You're just full of the good ideas tonight, sis." At the look on Paige's face, Phoebe caved in and laughed. "Channeling Piper there for a moment, sorry. But yeah, I think that's what we should do." She headed over to a small end table next to a beat up easy chair and rifled through it, before coming up with a drawing pad and a pencil. "Time to get to work."

* * *

Downstairs, Piper finished changing Wyatt's diaper and smiled down at him, brushing a finger lightly against his cheek. As she picked him up, a familiar humming sound came from behind her, and the room filled with a bright blue light that then faded. She turned and gave Leo a faint smile.

"Hey, you." Pressing a kiss to Wyatt's cheek, she grinned. "Look who's come to see you, buddy. It's Daddy!"

Leo smiled the familiar smile that always made Piper's stomach clench and flutter at the same time as he reached out and gently took his son into his arms. "Hey there, big guy." His smile remained at the same brilliance as the angel raised his head to study the beautiful brunette woman in front of him. It never ceased to amaze him just how much love he was capable of, every time he met those dark eyes. "How is he?"

"He's fine. Just been missing you. The rest of us, on the other hand…well, let's just say that we're considering calling up the Ghostbusters."

Leo gave Piper a frown of concern, even as he moved to the rocking chair in the far corner of the room they shared-when he was home-and sat down to lightly rock Wyatt to sleep. "You're seeing ghosts?"

"Close. Actually it's Paige and Phoebe-and just singular. One ghost in particular. Some Hispanic woman." A light wave of her hand was given. "They're upstairs going through the Book to see if there's anything that might help us identify her. How much do you know about ghosts?"

"Well, other than some basics, there are a lot of differences in each case. Every spirit has a different need. Has she spoken to either of them?"

"No, not yet. So far, she's only been crying."

"Hmm. Maybe I can help with the research after Wyatt's asleep."

Piper smiled, stepping over to brush her hand over Wyatt's hair, then lightly press her lips to Leo's. "I'll see you upstairs, then." She turned and headed back out the door, pulling it shut quietly behind her. She first headed down to the kitchen to put together some tea and coffee for all of them, since it seemed they'd be staying up late.


End file.
